The Estonian won the super-special stage in Cardiff's dockland arena, finishing 0.6 seconds ahead of Petter Solberg in his Subaru.

Britain's Colin McRae was third fastest around the 1.5 mile circuit in his Ford, with world champion Marcus Gronholm down in sixth.

Richard Burns could only manage eighth, two seconds behind his fierce rival McRae.

MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi produced a highly creditable display in his first rally, finishing just nine seconds off the pace.

The rally starts in earnest on Friday when the drivers venture into the Welsh forests.

Leading positions after the first stage:

1 Markko Martin (Est) Ford 2mins 07.7secs
2 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru at 0.6sec
3 Colin McRae (Gbr) Ford at 1.1
4 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ford at 1.3
5 Harri Rovanpera (Fin) Peugeot at 1.5
6 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot at 1.6
7 Tommi Makinen (Fin) Subaru at 2.6
8 Richard Burns (Gbr) Peugeot at 3.1
9 Kenneth Eriksson (Swe) Skoda at 3.8
10 Juha Kankkunen (Fin) Hyundai at 4.3